The London gathering between the most senior Irish and British civil servants last month began with a pleasant dinner in a culinary school in Westminster followed by an all-day meeting at offices near St Jamesโs Park.
Almost everybody invited is said to have attended, despite nearby No 10 Downing Street being engulfed with chaos over allegations about the relations between Labourโs Peter Mandelson and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Contacts between Irish and British officials have not always been like this, particularly in the past decade. The attendance of high-level officials shows how good relations have resumed after the turmoil of the Brexit years.
Just days after he took up office in 2024, British prime minister Keir Starmer hosted then taoiseach Simon Harris at Chequers โ the first foreign leader he met โ where they agreed to hold annual summits to โresetโ relations.
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